F3: Auer on pole for Hockenheim opener

Lucas Auer will start the first Formula 3 European Championship race at Hockenheim from pole position.

The Mucke Motorsport driver had been sitting in second spot right up until the final minute of the session, before a 1m32.387s final lap secured pole position for Saturday's first race. Auer's lap left practice pacesetter Antonio Giovinazzi second, the Carlin driver having set his best of a 1m32.505s four minutes from the end of the session.

His Carlin stable-mate Ed Jones was third, less than four hundredths behind.

Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon finished fourth and fifth, respectively, just 0.002sec separating the rookies at the end of the session, while Tom Blomqvist, who was on pole for the season opener at Silverstone, completed out the third row of the grid.

Nicholas Latifi was seventh, ahead of pre-season favourite Felix Rosenqvist, the Mucke driver's tough start to the season continuing as he could only manage eighth on the grid at a circuit he usually excels at. John Bryant-Meisner and Jordan King rounded out the top 10.

The surprise result of the session was Antonio Fuoco. The race three winner from Silverstone could manage just 18th on the grid, having sat outside the top 20 until his very last lap.